The present invention relates generally to the field of amusement game systems and, more particularly, to a multiple game rotation system for an amusement game machine.
Traditionally, amusement gaming machines such as those found in arcades and other social establishments have been limited in scope to providing a single type of amusement game per game machine unit. Spatial concerns limited the number of xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d game machines at a particular location due to the size of xe2x80x9cuprightxe2x80x9d game machines. Floor space is at a premium at many gaming locations including bars, restaurants, and arcades.
More recently, due in part to technological advancements in the computer industry, amusement game machines having multiple games per machine have been introduced. Such machines allow a game player to choose among a plurality of amusement games which the machine is capable of playing. These machines have mitigated some of the spatial concerns surrounding single game amusement game machines.
As strides continue to be made in the computer industry, multi-game amusement game machines are containing more titles than ever. For example, many multi-game amusement game machines contain over 50 titles per machine. One drawback of having so many game titles listed on a display of an amusement game machine is that a game player often finds it difficult to locate a particular game. The display screen becomes littered with game titles which often cause players to become confused, overwhelmed, and/or irritated. The inventors of the present invention have found that players will eventually walk away from multi-game amusement game machines having a display screen so cluttered that the screen is too difficult or too frustrating to navigate. Further, the inventors have observed more plays on multi-game amusement game machines having fewer titles and consequently a less cluttered display than machines with many more titles and, consequently, a more cluttered display.
Systems directed at alleviating the aforementioned cluttered display include limiting the number of titles displayed to the user as well as listing a specific number of games in a xe2x80x9ctopxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfavoritesxe2x80x9d category in addition to the less popular titles. However, either of these solutions requires manual operator intervention. Put another way, the operator must physically access an operator interface of the machine and select the game titles that are to be displayed to the user (or included in a xe2x80x9cfavoritesxe2x80x9d category). The inventors of the present invention have found that, in reality, the operators seldom take the time to update the listings or the xe2x80x9cfavoritexe2x80x9d category. Rather, the same titles are continually displayed to the players of the multi-game amusement game machine. Therefore, a need exists for a multiple game amusement game system that automatically updates the games displayed to players of multi-game amusement game systems.
A multiple game amusement game system comprises a memory for storing a plurality of amusement games, a display for depicting a game selection menu including a set of game titles associated with certain ones of the plurality of amusement games, and a processing unit for rotating game titles into and out of the depicted set of game titles based on predetermined criteria.
The above summary of the present invention is not intended to represent each embodiment, or every aspect, of the present invention. Additional features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description, figures, and claims set forth below.